This invention relates to apparatus for controlling the flow of water from an irrigation ditch.
The discussion of any prior art documents, techniques, methods or apparatus is not to be taken to constitute any admission or evidence that such prior art forms, or ever formed, part of the common general knowledge.
Farming or agriculture has been central to the rise and maintenance of the world's population. Key developments in the agriculture industry have allowed for the stabilization of the food supply, thereby allowing the development of more densely populated areas such as cities and towns.
The development of improved irrigation systems is just one of many advancements that have greatly altered the agriculture industry. One of the earliest forms of irrigation was to dig a water channel or row to direct the flow of water to the various crops in a field. Other early forms of irrigation included vertical wells and gently sloping tunnels, underground canals and a series of water-wheels. Today there are several different forms of irrigation which can be broadly categorized as surface irrigation, drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation and center-pivot irrigation. Surface irrigation uses gravity to move water across the land, and can be characterized by the use of furrows, border strips or basins. Drip irrigation functions to deliver water near the root zone of plants and sprinkler and center-pivot irrigation systems utilize sprinkler heads in fixed positions or on wheeled bases or wheeled towers to supply water to plants.
Basin irrigation often requires a land area to be filled with water, which will then permeate the ground and possibly drain into an adjacent property. Basin irrigation is often utilized by farmers who are growing crops that need a significant amount of water and don't require any regulation of water supply beyond “flooding”.
Furrow irrigation often utilizes several small channels or ditches in the field along with the gravitational pull created by a slope to move the water down the channel to the plants. Thus, basic furrow irrigation may be cost effective but it requires a significant amount of water flow planning because the amount of water provided is reduced as you move from the source. Further, furrow irrigation is not able to target a specific plant or a series of plants and instead is applied to a larger area of land as in many of the other irrigation methods outlined above. Recent developments in furrow irrigation have brought the use of various pipe systems to allow for a more efficient flow of water and to overcome some of the issues with water distribution. These include a gated pipe system that utilizes sliding gate valves in order to alter the flow of water from the water source. However, these gated valves require that a person, often a farmer or farm-hand, walk through the fields with a gated-pipe valve opener and manually open and close all gates. Thus, even with the advances in gated pipe technology, there are still large inefficiencies in the furrow method of irrigation in order to obtain the optimal water flow for various areas of land.
Given the various disadvantages outlined above, a need exists for an improved controller for controlling flow of water out of an irrigation ditch or a furrow.